At All Might's accusation, AFO laughed.
"No," he said calmly. "I am not a demon. I am the Demon Lord. And all of Japan will learn that tonight."
His smile widened, growing more sinister.
"No. You are no demon." Junsei suddenly spoke. "You are a human. The most human I have ever seen."
Junsei lifted Momo carefully and walked toward All Might. He lowered her gently onto the ground before him.
All Might looked at him in surprise after hearing his words, but when he saw Momo being put in front of him, he reached toward her to check her state.
Across from them, AFO's smile lessened.
The statement had struck his pride, it reduced him. In a sense, it demeaned the power and control he possessed. And beneath it, he sensed deeper intent behind these words.
"You say I am human more than anyone else?" AFO said. "This is the first time I have heard such a claim. I reckon most would object to that."
Junsei turned. His eyes were entirely blue.
AFO's smile returned faintly. "Is this your attempt to contradict me? To anger me? If so, it is a poor effort."
Junsei began walking toward him.
"To take from another by force is tantamount to evil in the eyes of humans," he said. "Yet, from the moment you are all born you practice this art. For thousands of years, each generation has been perfecting the sin you have inherited."
His voice did not rise.
"That is what a human is. A continuous accumulation of sin. Your existence itself is a compounded transgression against Life."
Fine cracks began to spread across Junsei's skin.
"You have accepted your nature," he continued. "You know you are evil. As is every human who walks this world."
More cracks.
"You are human, more than most."
AFO's smile faded completely.
The fractures widened across Junsei's body, glowing faintly from within. Blue vapor began to seep through the fissures. The air shifted.
The world itself seemed to tint faintly blue. The ground beneath their feet. The distant trees. The shattered buildings. Even the fabric and skin of the surrounding humans.
AFO's composure wavered when sensed movement from all around him. From every direction, the nomus approached.
Their eyes glowed blue. They formed a circle around him.
AFO looked from them to Junsei. "What are you doing?"
"I want to practice your sin," Junsei replied. "I will take everything from you."
The nomus collapsed simultaneously.
Blue light rose from their bodies, streams of luminous steam that flowed through the air and entered the cracks along Junsei's skin.
Junsei removed what remained of his torn shirt.
Where his heart should have been, a hollow cavity opened within his chest.
Inside it floated a glowing blue pearl.
His hands broke apart at the fingers, reshaping into elongated, luminous blue appendages tipped with curved claws. His teeth shifted, multiplying into two rows of fangs. The skin along his mouth split, widening unnaturally as his cheeks tore away and reformed into layered ridges lined with teeth.
Cracks deepened beneath his eyes.
Then a second, smaller pair of eyes opened below the first.
When he exhaled, blue vapor poured from his mouth.
AFO stared at the transformation, genuine surprise crossing his features.
Junsei spoke. The voice that emerged was layered, distorted and inhuman in every sense.
"I am your kind's demon, and I will devour you."
He roared.
The sound was not singular. It carried the overlapping cries of countless creatures, predators and preys, ancient and modern, winged, scaled, furred, crawling. It was as if every living being since the dawn of the earth had lent its voice to one unified roar.
No human had ever heard such a sound.
The roar vibrated at a frequency so deep that nearby windows shattered instantly. Civilians miles away clutched their ears in confusion and terror.
Within dozens of miles, every human heard it.
And felt it.
A deep fear spreads instinctively across the city, without anyone understanding why their bodies were acting up.
Even AFO felt it. Something inside him recoiled at the existence of this monster. His body trembled despite himself. The Quirks within him stirred uneasily.
AFO stared in alarm at the monster standing before him, whatever it was doing, it was affecting even the quirks within him.
Junsei moved first. He launched himself toward AFO and drove his fist forward with all his strength.
AFO reacted instantly. His arm swelled grotesquely as he stacked Quirks in rapid succession: enhancement strength, reinforcement, impact amplification layered in a heartbeat.
The two fists collided.
The resulting shockwave tore across the ground, ripping through debris and shattering nearby fractured buildings. The air itself seemed to split.
All Might dropped over Momo's unconscious body, shielding her from the blast.
AFO was sent flying backward, his feet carving trenches before he created golden flames from his legs and propelled himself off to the air. Blood spilled from his fist.
Junsei did not pause.
He launched after him like a cannonball.
AFO swung his other arm, generating a compressed blast of pressurized air. The force struck, causing Junsei to halt his momentum into a complete stop.
At the same time, the golden flames erupted stronger from AFO's legs, allowing him to fly higher.
Junsei leapt upward, he ascended high above his opponent before descending with a brutal axe kick.
AFO twisted aside at the last instant avoiding the attack.
Junsei's heel continued downward and struck the earth.
The ground fractured in every direction. Massive slabs of concrete and stone were hurled upward. Nearby heroes lost their footing as the shock rippled outward.
"Stay away from them!" Endeavor roared.
AFO shot higher into the sky, widening the distance. He passed near Mt. Lady, who reacted immediately and swung a massive fist toward him.
Before her blow could land, Junsei surged upward once more.
This time, he opened his mouth and unleashed his most powerful sound attack yet.
AFO erected an invisible barrier around himself. The soundwave struck it violently. The barrier held, but the force sent him hurtling farther away.
The sound attack continued to expand and it struck Mt. Lady directly.
She screamed as the attack ripped through her senses. Her massive body toppled backward into nearby buildings, crushing them under her weight.
AFO dismissed the barrier and accelerated higher into the sky, retreating from the immediate zone. Junsei pursued without hesitation.
Below, the heroes watched the two figures streak away.
"They're heading toward a populated district!" Best Jeanist shouted.
Alarm spread instantly.
"We need a medic here!" Kamui Woods called out.
The heroes glanced toward Mt. Lady. Blood streamed from her ears, nose, and eyes.
Dread deepened.
Those two monsters were moving toward civilians.
If they continued fighting there, the result would be catastrophic regardless who wins.
AFO flew as fast as he could while tracking Junsei's movements below. At the same time, his injured arm glowed gold and healed completely within moments.
Junsei leapt again, soaring hundreds of meters upward to intercept him.
The instant he reached striking distance, AFO turned.
His arms split and transformed into writhing black tentacles that shot toward Junsei.
They wrapped around him and his limbs midair, halting him mere inches from AFO's face.
"You are just like an animal," AFO said coldly.
AFO generated black lightning that travelled through the tentacles causing Junsei's body to be engulfed by the black lightning. However, Junsei showed no reaction from getting struck by the lightning.
Junsei, seeing his limbs locked in place, opened his mouth and stretched his jaw open. AFO reacted at once, forming a condensed barrier directly in front of the widening mouth as he expected another sound attack.
But no sound came. Instead, Junsei's tongue shot out like a chameleon. It curved around the edge of the barrier in a wide arc and coiled around AFO's torso.
AFO's eyes widened.
The next instant, he was yanked forward.
Junsei's mouth opened even wider as AFO's head approached it.
AFO severed the tongue with a sharp blade formed from his other arm and simultaneously hurled Junsei downward with the tentacles.
Even so, Junsei managed to bite off the side of AFO's face before being thrown away.
He crashed into the street below, shattering asphalt upon impact.
AFO touched the bleeding wound along his face. A sharp pain pulsed there.
Golden light flared.
When he lowered his hand, the injury had vanished.
He looked down.
Junsei stood in the ruined street, staring upward. He swallowed the chunk of flesh he had torn off.
AFO felt a rare sensation of shock edged with disgust. The freak had swallowed it.
He narrowed his eyes. He did not understand the nature of this Quirk, why it was affecting him and his quirks like that, but that did not matter at the moment.
Once he took down that freak and stole it, he would understand what kind of quirk is that.
AFO shot downward. His arm swelled and reshaped into a grotesque cannon-like formation.
He aimed at Junsei and fired a concentrated laser beam. Junsei jumped to the nearest building roof, narrowly avoiding the blast.
All of this while the unsuspecting civilians in the street were watching in confusion and fear what was going on. And when the laser struck. The explosion that followed obliterated part of the street along with several of them. They were killed instantly, and many more were injured.
AFO tracked Junsei's movement and fired again and again.
Junsei sprinted across buildings at incredible speed, vaulting from rooftop to rooftop.
Those buildings were occupied, and every time a beam struck, casualties were inevitable.
Junsei eventually jumped onto a parking building full of cars, he began picking cars and throwing them at AFO, who fired smaller and quicker laser beams to destroy them.
Metal and fire rained upon the city causing injuries among the bystanders in the street, and fire started in some nearby buildings.
Screams of terror filled the night as the disastrous battle had begun.